A/RES/54/142 Page 2 Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on progress in the implementation of the Platform for Action by the States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,3 1. Reiterates its invitation to Governments that have not yet done so to prepare national action plans and reports on the implementation of the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women,4 and underlines the importance of involving relevant actors of civil society, especially non-governmental organizations; 2. Invites Member States, in preparing implementation plans and reports and responding to the questionnaire on the implementation of the Platform for Action,5 to report on good practices, positive actions, lessons learned, the use of qualitative and quantitative indicators for measuring progress and, wherever possible, on key challenges remaining in the critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action and obstacles encountered; 3. Encourages all the regional commissions and other intergovernmental regional organizations to carry out activities in support of the preparations for the special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, inter alia, by holding preparatory meetings to ensure a regional perspective on implementation and on further actions and initiatives, as well as on a vision for gender equality, development and peace in the twenty-first century, and to make their reports available in 2000 to the Commission on the Status of Women acting as the preparatory committee for the special session; 4. Encourages all entities of the United Nations system, including the programmes, funds and specialized agencies, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to be involved actively in preparatory activities and to participate at the highest level in the special session, including through presentations on best practices, obstacles encountered and a vision for the future to accelerate implementation of the Platform for Action and to address new and emerging trends; 5. Decides that the special session shall have a plenary and an ad hoc committee of the whole; 6. Reaffirms that the special session will be undertaken on the basis of and with full respect for the Platform for Action and that there will be no renegotiation of the existing agreements contained therein; 7. Decides that the provisional agenda shall include the following items: (a) Review and appraisal of progress made in implementation in the twelve critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action; (b) Further actions and initiatives for overcoming obstacles to the implementation of the Platform for Action; 3 E/CN.6/1999/PC/4, annex. 4 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II. 5 See A/54/264, para. 49. /...